Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 12 (ANI): The Karnataka government on Wednesday appointed Congress MLA from Virajpet, AS Ponnanna, as the political secretary to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar with a cabinet minister's status. According to an official statement, Ponnanna, who represents the Virajpet Assembly constituency, has been appointed to the post with immediate effect. Ponnanna is a senior Congress leader, former legal advisor to Siddaramaiah and currently represents Virajpet in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The development comes days after 20 new MLAs took oath as ministers on August 3, expanding the Karnataka Cabinet to its full strength. (ANI)(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe.